Quidditch Quirks
by Cliara Aedai
Summary: It is during Harry's fifth year, and the next Quidditch match is Gryffindor vs. Slytherin. Slytherin take advantage of Gryffindor, pulling a terrible stunt never before seen. It is up to Harry and Hermione to save Gryffindor from pain before it's too late


It was a cold, frosty morning as the school slowly made their way down to the quidditch pitch in massive crowds, ready for the biggest match so far of the year; Slytherin vs. Gryffindor. Everyone was excited to see what the two teams would produce, what moves might be introduced and how Gryffindor was going to fare without it's normal seeker, Harry Potter. It was widely known that Harry had been banned from Quidditch by Professor Umbridge and that young Ginny Weasley was replacing him to play alongside Ron, and this news was making everyone more excited than usual.

Harry and Hermione stood amongst the slowly moving crowds, impatient to find seats. People were bumping into everyone and they found it hard to stay together.

"Harry, what about those seats there? No one ever sits there because a post blocks the view, but it was removed last week. It seems no one has realised yet." Hermione explained over the loud voices. Harry strained to see over everyone's heads, and nodded enthusiastically when he saw where she meant.

They finally made it through the crowds of people, sighing in relief as they reached the empty seats. Both just took a minute to get comfortable and catch their breaths, nodding and waving at the Gryffindor's as they walked by.

"Anyway, how do you think Ginny will go today? I haven't seen her fly very often. I suppose her light weight will give her an advantage." Hermione said thoughtfully.

"I saw her at practice the other night, from the window in our dormitory, and she looks pretty good. Confident and fast." Harry agreed. "I wonder how she will deal with the pressure of playing Slytherin."

Their conversation was broken off by the loud voice of Luna Love good over the speaker.

"Good Morning everyone! I hope you all slept well and the filersies did not invade your dreams, it is my pleasure to welcome you all to the match of Slytherin and Gryffindor! It is a very exciting game today, as my friend Ginny Weasley will be playing, and she is very good. So I think the Slytherin players should be scared and hope she doesn't get angry… but moving on! Professor McGonagall wants me to introduce the players so I suppose I should do that now."

And on she went, rambling about each of the players and her personal opinions as they flew onto the pitch. The entire crowd except Slytherin were crying with laughter as she described Malfoy as "a slightly weasel-looking person who needs a tan and perhaps a slightly more humorous personality" and Harry was almost disappointed when everyone was ready to start playing. Madam Hooch walked out with her whistle, and the whole crowd braced themselves for the signal that the game was to begin. Then the piercing sound echoed through the stands and the players pushed off the ground to the sound of everyone's cheers.

But what the Slytherins did confused everyone, as they all flew high into the air and formed a circular formation. The Gryffindor players stared surprised at the action, as the hoops had been left undefended and even the seeker had not begun the search for the snitch. Harry looked over at Hermione, silently wondering if she understood what was happening, but even Hermione looked confused.

"Um... I am not really sure what is happening… maybe the Nargles are interfering" Luna's voice rang out. "But it looks as though Gryffindor have decided to ignore them as Katie Bell throws the quaffle into the undefended hoops… And scores! Gryffindor have taken the lead as Slytherin continue to do…nothing."

But it was as these last words were said that suddenly every Slytherin in the stands stood up at once, all clustered around each other, and seven well-aimed cries of 'Stupefy' rang out. The crowd made it impossible to see who had shot the spells, but they all met their mark as every single Gryffindor player was hit and stunned, falling off their broom towards the ground. Many people screamed at the sight of the bodies hurdling towards the ground, and it was a surprise to all when the Slytherin players swooped down caught a player each and flew off out of sight with them.

The crowd was chattering fearfully, everyone afraid of what the Slytherins had obviously planned. The Slytherins in the stands had all sat back down by now, wide grins on each and every face. Luna was confused as to what she should say, looking at Madam Hooch for help.

"Well, Madam Hooch has told me that no rules have been broken. It wasn't the Slytherin players that interfered, and they haven't done anything wrong by flying off with the players… so it seems we will just have to wait and see what happens!"

It wasn't long before the Slytherin players all returned, without the players they had carried off. Slytherin cheered as they flew back in, while everyone else yelled at them in outrage.

"I can't believe they just did that!" Hermione yelled in frustration.

"What do you mean Hermione? What did they do with Ron and Ginny?" Harry asked frantically.

"It's outrageous and completely horrible, but it doesn't break any rules! Can't you see? They got the Slytherins who were watching to stun all the players, and carried them off so that Slytherin can score as many times as they want to and have no chance at losing! This way Slytherin can score as much as they wish, and because all the Slytherins in the stand stood up, there is no way of telling who cast the spells! Gryffindor cannot win!"

Harry sat silently as he absorbed the information.

"They are all gits!" He finally exclaimed, to which Hermione nodded. "What can we do Hermione? We can't let them get away with it!"

"I don't know Harry, I really don't see any solution."

It seemed as if the rest of the crowd along with the teachers had come to the same solution, as everyone was looking dejected and horrified.

It seemed Luna was the most annoyed, seeing as she had to be the commentator the entire game.

"Well this is no fun at all… surprise, surprise, Slytherin score again. And someone grabs the quaffle, but I don't care enough who, and scores again. Is there a limit to amount of points? No? That's a shame… And they have scored six more times."

Harry and Hermione were lost in thought, trying to think of some way this would end. The only way they could think of was for Malfoy to catch the snitch, but with his skill levels and need to beat Gryffindor it probably wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

Harry was thinking of this when he felt a small nudge from Hermione, encouraging him to look behind them. He turned around and was shocked at what he saw. A small Slytherin girl was crying heavily and running back towards the school. Harry figured she was barely eleven, and so was concerned at what was making her upset. Glancing at Hermione, he motioned for her to come with him. They quickly got up from their seats and headed in the direction she had ran, finding her hunched against a rock with her head in her hands.

"Excuse me?" Harry cautiously asked. "Are you alright?"

The small girl turned around to see who had spoken to her, but started crying more at the sight of him. Hermione thought quickly though and bent down to hug the sobbing girl. At first she struggled, but soon found comfort in the older girl's arms.

"What is your name?" Hermione asked softly, not wanting to sound threatening to the girl.

"Julia" She replied softly.

"Hi Julia, I'm Hermione. Do you want to tell me what is wrong?"

The girl looked reproachfully into Hermione's eyes, finally nodding.

"I-I, they made me, th-they told me I-I had to." She wailed, trying to tell her story but too distressed to do so.

"Hey, it's alright. Just take a deep breath and tell me." Hermione soothed, surprising Harry with how naturally comforting the girl came to her.

"Ok… They all told me I had to stand with them, so that the older kids could stun the Gryffindor players, but I said they were cheating! But all the older kids ignored me and then they- they expected me to do it too. But I didn't stand! I refused to be mean to Gryffindors! Then one boy glared at me and pointed his wand, and I got scared so I ran. I don't like the Slytherins; they are all mean to me and I wish I wasn't in that house."

Harry sighed sympathetically, and bent down next to Hermione, an idea suddenly forming in his head.

"Did your family make you ask to be in Slytherin?" He quietly asked the girl, and she nodded slowly. "You know that means you aren't a true Slytherin, right?" She nodded again. "Well I have an idea that will show all the Slytherins that you are braver than them, nicer than them and show the school you don't belong with them. Would you maybe like to do something like that?" Again she nodded, this time a little more afraid. Hermione glared at him, but Harry ignored her.

"Well everyone except the Slytherins want this game to be over, so if you could manage that, everyone who matters would be so proud of you and want to be your real friends." Harry suggested softly.

"Yeah…. But how do I do that? They won't listen to me!" Julia said, tears forming in her eyes again.

"Hey now, it's alright. I know exactly what you could do! In the rules it says that only seven players from each team can play, and failure to obey this rule leads to immediate disqualification of the entire team for the match. If you could go out there, show how brave you are, and insist to Madam Hooch that you are the eighth player for Slytherin and it is not up for discussion, Slytherin would be disqualified and the game would be over. And everyone would be so happy all because you were brave. Does that maybe sound like something you could do?" Harry asked slowly, judging her reaction. Finally she spoke.

"I guess…" Harry and Hermione smiled at Julia, making her smile a little bit as well. By now all her tears had dried up and she was looking considerably happier, but still afraid.

"Just one thing… Won't the Slytherins all hate me? Won't they hurt me because they're angry?"

Harry considered this for a while. "The Slytherins will probably hate you, but their opinion shouldn't matter. People have hated me my whole life, and I am still fine. And I promise you they won't hurt you, for they will have the whole school, including me and Hermione, to deal with later."

Julia smiled at him, gave him a quick hug and said "Well let's get going then before they break the record for most amount of point ever!"

So the three students held hands as they walked back, Julia in the middle of Harry and Hermione. When they got to the edge of the pitch Harry gave her hand a meaningful squeeze before gently nudging her onward. She gulped before slowly making her way forward.

"Harry, you stay here and don't leave, ok?" Hermione quickly whispered before rushing off back into the stands.

"Hermione!" Harry said in frustration to the empty space behind him. Groaning he turned back to watch Julia.

She was walking slowly towards Madam Hooch, her eyes darting quickly around. No one had noticed her yet, or if they had, were simply ignoring her. She was only a matter of feet away when Hermione's cheery voice suddenly replaced Luna's bored one.

"Hello everybody! Hermione Granger here from Gryffindor. Luna wanted to have a break so I am filling in for her! Oh my goodness! What is that?" She said in fake surprise. "It seems a little girl from Slytherin is approaching Madam Hooch! I wonder why the brave girl is doing that?" Hermione continued cheerfully. "Oh my! It seems the young Slytherin is having a small argument with her! It seems… Oh! I think she is insisting to be an eighth player for Slytherin! She won't leave, and Madam Hooch is confused. If I am correct in my knowledge, which I usually am, it says in the Quidditch Rule Book that a team may only have seven players, and if there are more players who refuse to leave the pitch, then that team is disqualified from the entire match!" As Hermione said that, the crowd erupted in excited cheers, a glimmer of hope invading their minds. "Little Julia is adamant it seems, that she is the eighth player! She will not leave and that leaves Madam Hooch with only one choice!"

A whistle was blown and Madam Hooch bellowed "Slytherin is disqualified for playing an eighth player, Gryffindor wins!"

Every Hufflepuff, Gryffindor and Ravenclaw cheered loudly, shocked to be witnessing such a historical moment in Hogwarts Quidditch history. Slytherin were beyond angry though, cursing loudly at the girl who had given the game away.

Back down on the edge of the pitch, Harry began to run towards Julia with his wand at his side. The Slytherin players looked murderously at the young house traitor, and he was afraid of what they would do. Julia was also very upset, crying from all the curses being thrown her way. He finally reached her, pulling her into a big hug in an attempt to calm her down. She sobbed against his shoulder, mumbling that they all "hated her". Her despair made his blood boil, and it was only one voice that made him calm down. Hermione as she yelled through the speaker.

"Gryffindor have won and Slytherin were beaten at their own game by little Julia of Slytherin! Her house won't accept her anymore, but I know that because of her bravery, the other three houses are going to welcome her into open arms! After all, she is the hero of the day!

Harry slowly turned Julia around so that she could see the crowd, who all started cheering for her. Chants of "Julia" were being shouted out, and the immense encouragement from Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Gryffindor drowned out any more curses from Slytherin. Harry even saw Dumbledore and Hagrid clapping along with everything else. But it wasn't the fact that Slytherin had lost at their own game, or the fact the Gryffindor had won and were now into the House Cup that made Harry's heart soar. No.

It was the true, happy grin that spread wide on Julia's face at the cheers that made Harry's day.


End file.
